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Berkeley to build modular housing factory
House builder Berkeley has acquired a site for a modular housing factory, it has announced in its half-year results.
Berkeley bought the site at Gravesham in Kent from the Homes and Communities Agency, and intends to use it for a 160,000 square foot facility. The builder said it already had “a team of specialists” to design the factory space and test the first components.
According to its results, Berkeley delivered 2,117 homes in the six months to 31 October 2017, including, it said, more than 10% of new homes in London. This was a slight increase from 2,076, the number built in the same period last year.
Its pre-tax profit was £533.3m, up 35.8% from £392.7m in the same period last year, driven by a rise in revenue of £194.3m and a fall in operating expenses of £32.6m.
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Berkeley said its revenue was mainly from selling new homes in London and the South East. The high number of schemes in central London meant that the group’s average selling price rose considerably, from £655,000 to £719,000.
Rob Perrins, chief executive of Berkeley, said: “With this good start to the year, Berkeley anticipates delivering £1.5bn of pre-tax profit in the two years ending 30 April 2019; the split between the two financial years is dependent on the timing of delivery on a number of central London developments, but is anticipated to be approximately 60% weighted towards the current year.
“The visibility over earnings which the forward sales provide and the quality of the land bank enables Berkeley to update its earnings guidance for the five years ending 30 April 2021 to at least £3.3bn of pre-tax earnings, assuming the current market conditions continue.”
Mr Perrins praised Sadiq Khan’s new attitude to viability assessments, calling the mayor of London’s policy to fast-track developments with at least 35% affordable housing “encouraging”.
The group had previously blamed affordable housing requirements for falling starts in London, but had no such complaints in this update.
